Studio C1 "Fireworks" is a new idea..Is "The Greatest Baseball" coming to an end?" protest [synthesis]

*This content was translated by AI.

The lawsuit between "Fireworks Baseball" and JTBC, which are in copyright conflict, began its argument with a fierce confrontation.

The 61st Civil Affairs Department (consensus) (C) of the Seoul Central District Court held its first hearing on JTBC's lawsuit against producer Jang Si-won and studio C1 on the 27th. JTBC filed the lawsuit in March 2025, and later applied for an injunction against copyright infringement in June 2025 with the same content, and started mediation with the court's recommendation for reconciliation, but after the collapse, the court eventually ruled in favor of JTBC with the decision for partial acceptance in December 2025.

On this day, the court summarized the positions of both sides and listened to the opinions of both sides. According to the report, JTBC claimed infringement of the second copyright related to the intellectual property rights and permission of "Best Baseball" Season 4 and "Kim Sung-geun's Winter Vacation", trademark infringement, joint production contract and annex agreement violations, and shareholder contract violations, along with claims for damages. Studio C1 said, "Fireworks Baseball is not similar in format to 'Best Baseball' but is a (new) idea, and 'Kim Sung-geun's Winter Vacation' was done with JTBC's consent as a spin-off." He also refuted, "In the case of trademark rights, the contract between shareholders is not valid because it is a TV broadcast and only applies to the main broadcast as a license agreement."

JTBC replied, "We have changed the purpose of the claim, including the decision to dispose of it," and Studio C1 said, "We will refute this as well." JTBC also added, "Even if it is possible to produce, provision is another matter."

However, the court said, "The name of 'fireball' alone is insufficient to make a copyright-related claim. "This is because the title may be the same and the contents may be different," JTBC pointed out, and JTBC said, "If the format is organized in detail, it may become too large, making it difficult to execute it. In some cases, it is specified by model name rather than composition," he said. On the other hand, Studio C1 said, "It is unusual for a successful program to be stopped, and the fact that it is difficult to specify itself is proof that it does not prove its rights, and the idea is to monopolize baseball entertainment."

On the same day, Studio C1 asked JTBC's position on whether "The Greatest Baseball" will end or not. JTBC said, "In some cases, such as infringement of copyright rights does not determine who is responsible. However, he said, "I don't think the end of the 'strongest baseball' will be the part that affects the lawsuit."

"The Greatest Baseball" is a real sports entertainment program in which retired professional baseball players form a team together to challenge baseball again. Since its first broadcast in June 2022, it has been broadcasting for more than two years, forming a solid enthusiast. However, Studio C1, an outsourced production company that was in charge of production, withdrew from the "strongest baseball" after a conflict with JTBC, and launched the "fireball" with existing cast members such as Lee Dae-ho, Park Yong-taek, and Jung Geun-woo. JTBC, on the other hand, returned to a new season in September 2025 after reorganizing its program with new casts and producers.

As part of the team's reorganization, the "strongest baseball" tried to make changes, such as appointing then KT Wiz coach Lee Jong-beom as the new head coach and changing the team name to "Breakers," but suffered ups and downs in terms of ratings. On the contrary, "fireball" has continued to be supported despite legal disadvantages while maintaining its existing fandom in Studio C1's own production.

The conflict between the two sides has erupted since early 2025. At the time, JTBC claimed that Studio C1 charged excessive production costs and did not disclose financial records, while Studio C1 countered that it was structurally impossible to charge excessive production costs.

JTBC filed a criminal complaint against Studio C1 and PD Jang Si-won on charges of violating copyright law and trademark law and breach of duty, and filed a request for an injunction against copyright infringement and prohibition of unfair competition activities to ban the production, sale, and distribution of "fireball." In December 2025, the court ruled in favor of JTBC and decided to ban the production of "fireball" and the disclosure of related contents, saying, "The act of producing and transmitting "fireball," which contains contents that suggest that it is actually the follow-up season of "the strongest baseball," constitutes an act of unfair competition under Article 2, No. 1 of the Unfair Competition Prevention Act."

In response, Studio C1 countered that some of the claims were not accepted, and later attempted to release the contents, but eventually deleted the main video. JTBC has made it clear that it will take additional legal action immediately if the new season of "fireball" is released in the future. He also warned, "Even after the decision to dispose of the provisional disposition, the act of stealing the law, such as disclosing consecutive rounds, will be subject to strict legal judgment in the main lawsuit."

According to the court ruling, the production, transmission, sale, distribution, and distribution of videos and programs that display the name of "fireball" or feature a team named "fireball" as content that corresponds to consecutive seasons of the same video, including all episodes of "fireball" released so far, are prohibited.

"Firework Baseball" deleted all the main episodes uploaded to YouTube as if conscious of the court's decision to dispose of them, but immediately declared that it would enforce the production of season 2 and announced on its official YouTube channel, "This decision to dispose of the movie is a provisional judgment on the video of this season's actual broadcast," and added, "We will do season 2 of Firework Baseball."

JTBC strongly criticized, "The court decided to ban 'fireball' because it clearly judged that 'fireball' was illegal content that used the performance of 'strongest baseball' without permission due to JTBC's investment. Nevertheless, Studio C1 is blurring the nature of illegal activities with a trick to change the season."

"If the new season of fireworks baseball is released, legal action will be taken immediately," he said. "Even after the decision to dispose of the case, the act of cleverly avoiding the law, such as disclosing consecutive episodes, will be subject to strict legal judgment in the main lawsuit." At the same time, he pointed out, "Even though it has already been made clear that it is illegal, it is important to keep in mind that the attitude of pursuing profits only with all kinds of tricks and wrapping oneself up as a legitimate actor on the back of fans will only add to the responsibility for violating the law."

Meanwhile, JTBC decided to end the season after the broadcast on February 2nd, apart from the legal conflict with Studio C1, and decided to end the season with the remaining broadcast. JTBC has secured the exclusive broadcast rights of the "2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics," which will open on February 6, and has decided to organize the season in consideration of the scheduling conditions ahead of the broadcast. We plan to discuss whether to produce a new season in the future, but it is currently unclear. A JTBC official told Star News, "The 2025 season was initially decided to end early this year. Although it is not a procedure for abolition, it has not been decided whether to reorganize and continue in the future, he said. "The fact that 'if we go into maintenance, we don't know how long it will take, so we may not be able to continue the scheduled schedule' has already been shared with the players."

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*This content was translated by AI.